The Oracle and The King
by Titania Erza K
Summary: Moments after the last King of Lucis sacrificed himself, the new ascended Oracle came forth in the Palace to resurrect him. The Oracle called upon the Gods to reinstate the King of Lucis. While his goal was achieved, there are certain elements of the Oracle that are suspicious, as are motives. M/M, OC


The ending of FFXV kind of depressed me and this story started to take shape in my mind. It will be six chapters long, each chapter will be anywhere between five and ten thousand words. The rate at which these chapters come will be pretty depended on the response I get.

Warnings: I will get a lot of things wrong, so expect some inaccuracies. If you spot any or any grammatical mistakes, please let me know.

P.S: Aundrey is pronounced very similarly to Laundry. Like, exactly the same but without the L. He also has a British accent, much like Ignis.

P.S2: Obviously, I know that "sacrilege" is not spelt as "Secrilege." It is done so INTENTIONALLY. Do not comment about it. It is a sort of spell and it is pronounced as "See-kreelage."

* * *

Chapter One

The New Oracle stood in front of the Palace. He had seen the three men running inside after the dazzling light only seconds ago. Remnants of all the battles were everywhere. It made him wonder if his operation would be met with success. Possibly.

He took one step at a time, expanding consciously through his magic inch by inch, making sure not a drop of it remained out of his control. His steps started to feel heavier and heavier as more of his power was accumulated inside his chest. He tightened his fist around the Oracle's Trident.

The colour of his hair – so much like peanut butter – was impossible to make out in the dark. He had felt the shock, the blinding Light that had driven away the darkness. Day wasn't far away. _Daylight,_ he thought happily. How he had been longing for it.

He walked inside the Palace and felt the large man run up to him as he pulled his ridiculously long sword and attempted to strike him with it. He held up his trident and met the blow as the sheer force of it sent vibrations through his entire body.

His magic sang at him to send the man flying, but he knew better than to waste even an ounce of it. 'Who the hell are you?' The large man asked roughly. There were tears streaming down his eyes. 'What the hell are you doing with her trident?'

'It's not _her_ Trident, it's _mine_.' The Oracle replied angrily. 'If you wish to see your King reinstated then you better get out of my way before you force my hand.'

The sword was slowly lowered. The Oracle knew it was because the man had been throwing all his power and the Oracle hadn't even moved. His Trident was sizzling with his magic, there was no way Gladiolus would be able to so much as move him.

'Can you . . . can you really bring him back?' Somebody asked from behind. A tall, skinny blonde man. _Prompto_.

'Yes.'

'But there isn't even a body.' Gladio said angrily. Another man – _Ignis_ – was in the back, silent. Right, Ignis. There was unfinished business there.

'But there is blood,' The Oracle replied, lifting his trident. It shone dimly and a nearby sword was lifted. Its edge was red. The King's blood. The blood left the sword as it dropped down with a clang. The blood flew to the Oracle and halted in front of him as a circle of golden light encased it.

The Oracle started moving towards the throne, the sphere filled with blood before him. He had finally reached every acre of his Magic. He lifted his trident and prepared to unleash it. 'There is so much residual magic,' he said. 'Three of the Six have left their mark, as well as all the Kings of Lucis and the Darkened one – Ardyn. Magic that would waste away into the nature if not otherwise channelled.'

He slammed the Trident on the floor and it shone powerfully, blindingly. The Trident had changed from the one Lady Lunafreya had held. It was now white decorated with touches of gold. Much like the New Oracle's coat. White and dressed with gold at its edges. 'I call upon the Six to return what has been taken once more!'

Suddenly, swirls and swirls of colour lifted from everywhere. The ground, the walls, the sword that had clanked. Endless streams of residual magic coming around the Oracle and forming six figures that slowly started to materialise.

One by one, the Six Gods slowly took ethereal shape. They were semi-visible, hovering in the air, radiating with power. Bahamut at the Centre, to his left Titan, at his right Shiva. Next to Shiva was Leviathan, whilst next to Titan stood Ramuh. Ifrit was in the back, all of them forming a circle around the oracle.

The Draconian spoke. _'It has been three thousand winters, springs, summers and falls since we were last asked to attend the Oracle as a whole. Why are we summoned thus?'_

The Oracle took a deep breath. 'Noctis Lucis Caelum willingly gave his life to restore the light to the world. Selflessly and at a very young age, he died to bring about peace. It is only right that he sees this peace.'

The Hydraean's speech-like screeches pierced the room. _'Many fell for the fallen King, ages before and ages to come and ages undone. What merits one over the others, when others do not merit over one?'_

'Two wrongs do not adhere to one right,' The Oracle replied softly. 'This world needs the Kings of Lucis to continue. Daemons are repelled but not extinct. You can feel them still walking this earth. Noctis was the last of the line. What will befall the world once they take note of his absence?'

The Infernian, who never spoke, filled the room with his voice. The Oracle could've sworn it echoed with crackling wood and flames. _'Despicable creatures. I was for your extinction but my brethren thought otherwise. Sacrifice upon Sacrifice given to you by those above you yet you pitiful children of ash and mud do not know grace.'_

The Archean interfered, _'While I have pledged my allegiance to the Kings of Lucis and humanity as a whole, lest ye forget that you cannot progress without us and thus you cannot progress at all. When the last Oracle has fallen, is then to be the end of humanity? Do you always aim to rely on our help?'_

The Oracle gritted his teeth. 'I will not play around. You know the stakes, you know the answers, you know the costs. Lest _you_ forget that it was you who let Darkness onto the world. One of you betrayed your Sacred vows and enacted the plague that haunted us. An innocent fell twisted and sacrificed for you. Another one is not one too many?'

At this, all of them but Shiva and Bahamut shrieked. _'Never,'_ the Hydraean remarked. _'We will never agree.'_

The Oracle had never expected the Hydraean or the Infernian to agree, of course. 'Very well. I evoke the right to _Secrilege_ and ask how many of the Astral shall pardon me.'

Silence tore through the throne room. _'I shall pardon your Secrilege.'_ Bahamut spoke first.

' _I shall pardon your Secrilege,'_ Shiva followed.

Titan stared long and hard at the Oracle. _'Very well. I shall pardon your Secrilege.'_

Ramuh stared harshly. _'I shall aid you, but I shall not pardon your Secrilege.'_

There was no need for Ifrit or Leviathan to answer. _Three out of six,_ the Oracle thought. Well, could certainly be a lot worse. The Oracle lifted his trident, aware that the Hydraean and the Infernian were glaring at him with pure hatred. 'As the Inherited Oracle of Old, I call upon the Ancient human treaty and evoke _Secrilege_. By my hand, _forced be thee._ '

Chains tore out of his very flesh, golden ethereal chains, pouring blood in their wake. Two chains, one storming right into the heart of the Hydraean and the other into the heart of the Infernian. They shrieked and said words in a language that the Oracle couldn't grasp. The Draconian lifted his hand. Golden light flew out of it and hit the sphere wherein was the King's blood. The Glacian followed, a beam of blue Light hitting the sphere. Similar light flew out of the Archean and the Fulgurian.

Reluctantly, subdued by the golden chains, the Hydraean and the Infernian gave their own Light to the blood. As the power of the Six was gathered around it, the blood seemed to go frantic. Swirled and swirled by the six colours, its golden sphere was shed as it swirled around itself over and over until – a sound echoed. A single beating. A heart was formed. The heart beat again. And Again. And again.

Blood poured out of its two tubes, blood that rolled around the heart and formed lungs, stomach, spleens. Connected by blood, slowly muscle started to sprout around the organs, tendons. Bone took shape and was quickly covered by more muscle, then skin started to sprout.

Gruesomely, the body of the King started to reform by the most ancient of Magic. A blue figure, resembling the body, appeared out of thin air. _The Soul of the King._ It slowly hovered above the body and then with a deafening _crack_ it shoved itself inside the body and blue ethereal Light flashed everywhere. At last, the body's eyelids opened and eyes formed.

The chains fell and broke, the wounds instantly closing. Four of the Six disappeared into the ether, the Hydraean and the Infernian passed through the Oracles with shrieks of rage. The King dropped on his feet and stared at everyone in shock.

'What the hell?' he asked. The Oracle begun dropping, exhausted. The King rushed and caught him. 'How am I alive?' The King asked, the Oracle nearly unconscious on his chest.

'That kid,' Gladio said, pointing at the Oracle. 'brought you back.'

The King's eyes widened. He stared down in disbelief. 'How?'

'I'm . . . the Oracle.' The Oracle replied weekly.

'How can you be the Oracle?' Noctis asked.

'Noctis,' Prompto said, drawing closer. His voice betrayed the tears streaming down his eyes. 'He _just_ brought you back to life. Does he look like he's in a state capable of answering questions?'

'You're right,' Noctis said, as if suddenly noticing that the Oracle was very nearly asleep on his chest. 'You . . . you should sleep.' Noctis said firmly.

That opened the Oracle's eyes. 'No.' he said firmly. 'I need to see sunlight. It's very nearly dawn.' He looked up, right into the King's eyes. 'I've waited ten years. Please. I need to see the sun rise.'

Noctis stared at his hand, clenching and unclenching his lest fist. Suddenly, a sword materialised. 'I feel oddly . . . stronger.'

'You are,' The Oracle replied faintly. 'You absorbed some power from the six.' Noctis begun to open his mouth. 'I will answer _all_ of your questions once I have slept, but please. I need to see the sun.'

With a grunt, Noctis threw the sword way up, so high it flew up in the throne room and sliced through the ceiling and out. The Oracle felt himself become and unbecome as he was teleported at the top and landed softly.

They were atop the castle, staring at the ruined city. Far away, at the edge of the stretched darkness, a faintly golden light was starting to take form, sending colours throughout the horizon. Purple stained the sky and clouds. The Oracle tried to stand, leaning on his trident for support but his limbs were too exhausted.

He fell back with a grunt, where Noctis grabbed him again in his arms. 'Don't try to stand,' Noctis said. The Oracle nodded faintly. The gold started rising up and up. Tears rolled down the Oracle's eyes.

'I waited so long to see the sun rise again.' His voice was broken, meddled with tears and exhaustion. 'Thank you.'

Noctis waited a bit before replying. 'What's your name?'

'Aundrey,' he replied. The sun had begun to show. 'Aundrey Devan.' Noctis didn't reply.

And the Oracle fell asleep in the King's arms, as the Light finally glowed upon the world again.

* * *

Aundrey woke up lazily, his eyes hurting, feeling exhausted. He felt extremely comfortable. When he opened his eyes, he faced Noctis staring intently at him. 'Um . . . good morning.'

Noctis snapped out of a faze. 'Hi,' he said. 'How are you?'

Aundrey turned around to see the sun pouring in from the windows. He smiled. 'A bit exhausted but other than that fine.' His eyes were hollowed.

Noctis looked awkward, meddling with his fingers. 'You said you could answer all of my questions.'

Aundrey smiled. 'Probably not all of them but I'd wager quite a few.' A grumble came from Aundrey's stomach.

'Oh!' Noctis got up and walked to a table close to the bed, retrieving a tray with food. 'I brought you food. I imagined you'd be hungry.' He placed it on Aundrey's lap. The room was huge, kingly as it should be with Aundrey laying on a King sized bed.

Aundrey stared at the tray. 'Thanks,' He said with a smile. He took a croissant and dipped it in chocolate before eating it. He finished chewing before turning to face Noctis. 'Well, ask away.'

'How do you exist?' Noctis asked, his eyes full of curiosity.

Aundrey sighed and took a sip from his water. He took a moment before answering. 'The power of the Oracle is sort of like a different type of magic. It's transferred from one Oracle to the other when one passes. Me and Lunafreya both had the potential to receive that power. She raced me to it.' He couldn't keep the sourness from his voice.

'Raced you to it?' Noctis inquired curiously.

Aundrey lifted an eyebrow. 'She was born first. Six years older to be exact.'

'Oh.' Noctis pondered before asking again. 'How did you know? That you had the potential?'

'The Oracle shows up usually within three main bloodlines. One of them disappeared long ago, so it was either mine or Lunafreya's. My parents thought they might give birth to an oracle. But apparently Lunafreya came first so their hopes vanished. But moreover, I felt the power tugging at me every time I met her.'

'I see. What you did back there – with me. Can you . . .?'

Aundrey looked at Noctis with sad eyes. He hurt for the King, despite not wanting to. 'I can't. I'm sorry. What I did – it was a one in an era opportunity. I lack the power to gather the six again, not to mention, they would never agree to bring anyone back.'

'But they agreed to bring me?' Noctis asked surprised.

Aundrey shook his head. 'That they did not.'

'Then how?'

He smiled sadly. 'I had to force them.'

'Force them?' Noctis's eyes widened considerably.

'When the pact between the Six and us, humans, was created and they agreed to forge the power of the Oracle, it was agreed that the Oracle would have the power to evoke Secrilege. Basically, it allows the Oracle to force the Gods to do his or her bidding.'

'Then why didn't Luna use it on the Hydraean?'

'Because . . .' Aundrey took a deep breath. 'It's no small thing to chain a God into your bidding. I used the residual magic to summon them but I had to use my _own_ power to chain them. It's an extremely taxing process and in exchange for this power you sell your soul to the Gods.'

'What? What do you mean sell your soul?'

'Well, not literally.' Aundrey ran his hands over his face. He was already feeling exhausted. 'See, souls have protections that stretch past the power of the Gods. We're all a bit divine in a way. When we dream our souls wander free and safe. Evoking Secrilege is also giving the right to the Gods to march through those barriers to extract whatever revenge they please.'

Noctis wasn't talking. He wasn't doing much of anything, really. 'Do as they please?'

'Well they can't really hurt me, but they can do whatever they want to me in my dreams. For example, if one forced Ramuh, they would spend the rest of eternity in his ethereal mercy. Imagine an afterlife of always being struck by lightning.'

'How many Gods did you force?' Noctis's voice was barely a whisper.

Aundrey smiled sadly. 'Two. I think you can assume who they were. Ramuh didn't forgive my Secrilege so he won't protect me, but he hasn't come after me.'

'Come after you?'

'In my dreams. The other three keep guard but there's only so much they can do. Leviathan and Ifrit have the right to torment me.'

'In your dreams?' Noctis got up from his chair and sat on the bed. Aundrey pulled his legs closer to himself, trying to distance himself from Noctis. He nodded. 'What exactly happens?'

Aundrey shrugged. 'I was a bit too exhausted to take proper notice. The more energy one has the more vivid their dreams are. I faintly remember either burning alive or endlessly drowning.'

Noctis looked horrified. 'Is there nothing you can do?'

'Nothing at all,' Aundrey said. 'It's a price I knew I would have to face. Could be worse, really.'

'And you did this for me.' Noctis said.

'I did it for the world, Noctis. The world needs a king.' Aundrey took a slice of cake and stuffed it in his mouth. 'I have a sweet tooth.' He explained.

'I can bring you more.' Noctis said, instantly getting up.

'Actually,' Aundrey said, putting the tray aside on a coffee table. 'Could you tell me where the bathroom is?'

'Oh,' Noctis said blushing faintly. 'Of course – you've been sleeping for hours. You probably want to relieve yourself.'

Aundrey laughed airily. 'Now that you mention it, I do. But I just want to shower. I should be on my way soon.'

'On your way where?' Noctis asked dumbly.

'Home. Daemons aren't completely gone, Noctis. Your sacrifice took out the worst of them and obliterated the plague that transformed humans into daemons, but some of them still roam free. I need to protect my family.'

'I can send guards!' Noctis said, panic in his voice. 'But you can't go yet.'

'Why not?' Aundrey asked, getting annoyed.

'Because . . .' Noctis pursed his lips and thought it over. 'The Oracle is supposed to stay with the King.'

'I've done my duty to you, Noctis.' Aundrey said. Now he wanted to sleep. And at the same time didn't.

'Yes, you have.' Noctis walked closer to Aundrey and looked into his eyes, putting a hand on his shoulder. 'Please stay a while.'

 _I'm an idiot,_ Aundrey thought. _An idiot who will destroy himself. Don't you dare._ 'Okay.' _GODS DAMNED IDIOT._

Noctis smiled. 'I wish I knew how to thank you.'

At this, Aundrey smirked. 'You could shave. Your beard is terrible.'

'What?' Noctis asked, pulling back. 'My beard is _not_ terrible.'

Aundrey laughed, 'You look like those teenage girls that wear high heels when they're like twelve, trying to look old when they aren't.'

'I'm 29!' Noctis said angrily.

'You're not, you're 19.'

Noctis's eyes narrowed. 'Just because I was gone ten years doesn't mean I did not age.'

Aundrey rolled his eyes. 'You didn't age, physically or mentally. But as for the physical aspect, I can tell by your skin cells that you haven't aged a single day. Your beard only exists because for three months you were in stasis.'

'Stasis?'

'Back in our world but frozen in sleep. I felt it when you were returned. Three months ago and some.'

'What do you mean can tell by my skin cells?' Noctis asked.

'Our skin cells more or less regenerate analogically. Meaning, if you're nineteen years old they roughly regenerate every nineteen days. When I used your blood to remake a body – or rather, the Gods used me to do that – I found information such as that. You're nineteen, Noctis. While in the Astral plane or wherever the hell you were gone, you didn't age a day.'

Noctis sighed as he sat down. 'So you're older than me, now?'

Aundrey nodded. 'Which is good, because you're too immature to be twenty-nine anyway. I mean, I'd page you as nine but whatever.'

Noctis stared in shock. 'How can you be so infuriating?'

'Is that any way to talk to the person who brought you back to life?' Aundrey tried – and failed – not to be too proud of himself for that.

Noctis blinked a few times. 'You're right. I'm sorry. I should not have said that.'

'It's okay,' Aundrey said with a smirk. 'Teenagers make such mistakes.'

'I am _not_ a –' Noctis stopped himself and took a deep breath, forcing a smile. 'Do I know you from somewhere? You seem oddly familiar.'

'Yes, see, I kind of brought you back to life.' Aundrey said lazily, examining the nails on his right hand.

' _That's not what I meant_!' This time he did not keep himself from shouting.

Aundrey grinned. 'You're too easy to infuriate. It's fun.' Well, that was a half lie. It was _easier_ to infuriate Noctis than to be nice to him.

'I see that you're tired and need some time alone.' Noctis said, getting up and walking to the door. 'I'll let you rest.'

'Make sure you shave!' Aundrey yelled after him. Noctis made an angry sound as he slammed the door. Aundrey closed his eyes, exhausted and fell back into sleep.

* * *

His skin was scorching. Fire was everywhere – on his skin, underneath his fingernails, inside his mouth, burning his inside. This was hell. Endless, fiery torture.

He woke up abruptly, covered in sweat. 'Damn it,'Aundrey swore out loud. 'This is going to be harder than I thought. He looked up into the ceiling. Well, to hell with this. He didn't think there was much more he could endure. He preferred drowning over fire, that was for sure. He _hated_ heat.

He got out of bed and walked into the bathroom, taking a long, cold shower. When he returned into the room, he noticed there was a white letter on his nightstand, a red seal closing it. He broke the seal and opened it, pulling the letter.

 _If you do wake up before eight, join us in the dining area._

 _N. L. C_

 _How the hell am I supposed to know what time it is?_ Aundrey thought. Then he noticed a small, golden watch on the nightstand. It had been hidden by the letter. It was rather beautiful, he thought. It was ten minutes to eight. He saw some clean clothes at the end of the bed.

White pants and a creamy loose shirt to match his hair. He sighed and put the clean clothes on, leaving his towel aside. It took him some time to find the dining room throughout the half-ruin of a castle he was in. However, there were people all over the place, some rebuilding, some were probably servants.

Odd how even after 10 years without a king, this place still had staff. When Aundrey finally made it to the dining table, it must have been a half our later. He walked through the two grand wooden doors and entered a large room, extremely tall with a ridiculously long table. Honestly, he thought it was hilarious that only four people were seated in a table capable of hosting over twenty.

'You made it.' Noctis noted. His eyes seemed pinned over Aundrey. 'You wore the clothes.'

'I couldn't very well come in here wearing nothing, could I?' Aundrey sat at the other head of the table. A respectable distance from the rest, who were positioned around Noctis. He was exactly opposite of him.

'No, you couldn't have.' Gladius said. Aundrey had the very distinct feeling that Gladius wasn't a fan of him. Which was preposterous, considering he had just brought his king back to life. 'Say, Oracle.'

'Aundrey.' Noctis interrupted. Everyone turned to stare at him. 'His name is Aundrey.'

'Say, _Aundrey_ ,' Gladius pressed on. 'How exactly did you bring our esteemed King back?'

'I summoned the Six. Their combined power can reseal body and soul. A soul is first sealed with a body while in the womb. When a human dies, the seal is broken. The Six, it was discovered a few good centuries ago, are capable of replicating this seal.'

Gladius narrowed his eyes. 'But Noctis had no body.'

'His blood was here, we simply refashioned it.'

'Reeks like dark magic to me.' Gladius finished.

Aundrey's head fell back and laughed. 'What do _you_ know about magic? You _reek_ of brute force.'

'I know enough about it – I didn't spend ten years hiding from it. I've spent my entire life fighting it.'

' _Hiding?_ I've been protecting my family!' Aundrey said angrily.

'Why did you never show?' Gladius pushed.

He took a deep breath. 'I only became the Oracle after Lunafreya died and the power passed onto me. I needed time to adjust. Then when Noctis vanished, so did the Oracle's power.'

'That's how you knew I was back.' Noctis remarked.

Aundrey turned to him and nodded. 'I spent those three months practising because I knew you were in stasis and I knew what you had to do.'

'What do you mean the Oracle's Power?' Gladius asked.

Aundrey rubbed his forehead slowly. It always calmed him. 'The Power of the Oracle is hereditary. It's almost like an entity transferred between bloodlines. There were three. Mine and Lunafreya's were the last two. Now I'm the only one capable of hosting the power.'

'Why were you capable of binding the Gods to your will?' Prompto asked shyly. Aundrey turned to him.

'It's an ancient right of the Oracle called Secrilege. It allows me, if I'm strong enough, to chain the Gods so as they do what I want. That is, just _one_ thing I want.'

'Why didn't Lunafreya do it with the Hydraean?' Ignis asked.

'Because she _couldn't_.' Aundrey said through gritted teeth.

'What do you mean couldn't?' Noctis asked.

Aundrey sighed. 'Before becoming the Oracle I had unusually powerful magic. Of course, as you know, male Oracles are extremely rare and usually only happen in cases such as mine. By some mistake, Lunafreya became the Oracle. She wasn't supposed to. She didn't have enough power.'

'But you do.' Gladius stated.

'Obviously.' He turned to Noctis. 'Did you send an army took look after my family?'

Noctis nodded. 'I looked up your family name in the archives and sent a whole armada there.' A large thud echoed outside. 'What the hell is that?'

'Daemons.' Aundrey replied, getting up and materialising his golden-white trident.

'Stay here,' Noctis said. 'We'll take care of this.'

The rest got up, materialising weapons of their own and rushed outside the room. Noctis cast Aundrey a glance before leaving after them. Aundrey sighed and rubbed his forehead. He checked his watch. 'Might as well eat.'

Nobody had expected him to sit so far away – all the food had been near Noctis. He forced a plate of what looked like soup to levitate toward him, as long as with some bread and silverware. He picked up the spoon and sipped some soup.

 _This is really good._ He thought happily. He ate the soup rather rapidly with bread and checked his watch. Over five minutes had passed. He sighed and got up, exiting the dining room and walking outside the castle.

Three large Daemons, all several metres long and wide, carrying broadswords were doing battle with the King and his Crownsguard. Aundrey sighed. No wonder they were here – the sun had set. He noticed Noctis fighting one of the large Daemons on his own. His movement seemed a bit too ragged – he was testing his entire arsenal against the Daemon with no luck.

'Can't handle this?' Aundrey asked lazily.

'What?' Noctis asked turning. 'Of course I can!' He yelled furiously. At the same time his eyes flashed red, he turned around, threw the sword of the Wise at the Daemon and it erupted on impact in endless burning fire. 'What the?' Noctis asked, taking a few steps back.

'I told you, you absorbed some of their power. Happens when they recreate your body.'

Before Noctis could reply, a large hand swept across and tossed him into a wall. 'HEY!' Aundrey bellowed furiously. 'That's more than enough.' He lifted his trident up. 'PERISH.'

Endless, golden light poured from the Trident against the daemons in a sort of triangle, shining for a single second – then it was gone. So were the daemons. Aundrey dropped his trident and fell on his knees, breathing harshly. He turned around to look for Noctis. He was running towards him.

'Are you okay?' Noctis asked, putting a hand on Aundrey's shoulder.

'I'm fine,' Aundrey said, brushing away Noctis's hand. Noctis gave him the Trident. Aundrey grabbed it and tried to lean on it for support.

'What was that?' Gladius asked.

'Concentrated sunlight. Powerful dark magic.' Aundrey spat at him. At least Gladius had the dignity to look slightly dishevelled.

Aundrey grunted. 'I'm going to bed. Ignis.'

'Yes?' Ignis asked curiously.

'In a few hours, come to my bedroom. There's something I need to ask you.'

'Let me take you.' Noctis offered, sounding a bit off. He tried to get his arm through Aundrey's shoulders.

'I'm _fine._ ' Aundrey said, pushing him away. And so step by step, he walked to his bedroom.

* * *

Aundrey woke up and saw Ignis sitting on a chair near his bed. And next to him, Gladius. Aundrey yawned and stretched. 'Um, good morning.' Ignis said awkwardly.

'How long have you been there for?' Aundrey asked sleepily.

'Not much, we've been checking hourly. Did you want something?'

Aundrey nodded. 'Come here.' Ignis swallowed and was lead to the bed, near Aundrey. Aundrey got close to Ignis and removed his glasses. His eyes were still closed. Aundrey put two fingers on Ignis's forehead, between his eyes. Golden light shone in a circle around Aundrey's fingers and then spread in delicate lines into Ignis's eyes, forming two golden circles above his closed eyelids.

This lasted for about four seconds before Ignis opened his eyes and saw once again. He blinked a few times before tears started rolling down his face. 'I can see.' He said, not believing his own voice.

'I'm glad.' Aundrey said with a smile. 'I've been wanting to do that for a while.'

'You can see.' Gladius said, not believing it himself. Ignis nodded and turned around. 'Good to see you, old friend.'

Gladius broke down into tears and hugged his friend. 'Damn it, Iggy.' Ignis let out a happy sob. Gladius pulled back, his eyes still puffy.

'That's one sight I never thought I would witness.' Ignis remarked.

Gladius chuckled. 'Then it's a gods damned good thing you got your sight back in time for it.' Ignis laughed. 'Iggy, can you give me a moment with the Oracle?'

Ignis nodded, got up and left, taking in every inch of the room as he did, closing the door behind him. Gladius turned to face Aundrey. 'I'm sorry. For giving you a hard time.'

Aundrey shrugged. 'I understand why you'd be protective over Noctis. You're worried I've cast some sort of spell on him – or that it might not even be really him.'

'Oh it's _him_ alright. Nobody else could be such a pain in the ass.' Aundrey snorted at that. 'But as for the spell aspect – I can't help but wonder. He seems so . . . interested in you.'

Aundrey shrugged. 'I didn't do anything. I don't know why he's reacting like that.'

'I remember you, you know.' Gladius said. 'Back when Noctis was in High School. You were a little kid. Yet you walked up to him – to the prince, stared into his face and said 'This is not fair.' Before walking away.'

Aundrey's cheeks burned. 'I was ten.'

Gladius's eyes widened. 'You're six years younger than him.'

'I'm four years older than him,' Aundrey corrected. 'He didn't age physically while he was gone.'

'How do you do this?' Aundrey lifted his eyebrows. 'Any of this,' Gladius went on. 'Lunafreya could never heal.'

Aundrey closed his eyes. 'I am not Lunafreya. I never have been. We're two entirely different entities. She was incapable of handling her gifts – her own flesh gave in. I'm in no such danger, my powers only make me stronger.'

'You two didn't seem like you got along.' Gladius remarked.

'More like I didn't get along with _her_. She was kind. Nice, even. But it's hard to like somebody who has what was destined for you.' Aundrey refused to look at Gladius. Instead, he found interest in his bedsheets.

'How do you know it was destined for you?'

Aundrey shrugged. 'I'm powerful. She wasn't. It killed her, it's making me thrive.'

'How do you know it won't kill you in time as well?' Gladius asked. 'You've only had it for a little while.'

Aundrey sighed. 'The Power of the Oracle is almost like a skin your magic wears. Only it's more fundamental than that. It becomes your magic. However, if your magic isn't powerful enough, it will eventually eat at your life force the more you use it. I'm the stronger Oracle there ever was.'

'Do you hate her?'

Aundrey looked up finally. 'Hate her? No. I even respect her. Despite knowing the risks, she gave her life for Noctis. I just can't bring myself to like her.' He smiled sourly.

'So Noctis is still nineteen.' Gladio said, moving on.

'Which is a good thing. Can you imagine a thirty-year-old being _that_ immature?'

Gladio's head fell back as he roared with laughter. 'I think you and I will get along swimmingly, kid.' Aundrey beamed at him. 'I also think that you didn't resurrect Noctis completely selflessly.' Aundrey's gaze darkened. 'I've seen the way you look at him.'

Aundrey looked away. 'Doesn't matter how I look at him.'

'Why not?' Gladio asked. 'You should see the look on his eyes when you showed up in the dining room yesterday. He nearly drooled.'

Aundrey sighed. 'Look, even if he felt in any way for me, it does not matter. It can't be.'

'Why not? I don't think you care much for that kind of stuff.'

Aundrey looked into Gladio's eyes. 'I don't. But I'd wager he does.' He rolled back into his covers. Gods, was he exhausted. At least his dreams had been barely plagued by drowning. 'Can you let me rest now? Show your friend the world again.'

Gladio nodded. 'I will throw a goddamn feast in your honour for that.'

Aundrey chuckled. 'Make sure there's chocolate.' He yawned and closed his eyes.

* * *

Aundrey woke up and this time there was thankfully no one in his room. He looked at his new watch. Nine in the morning. He had slept for over fourteen hours. Fourteen peaceful hours. He thanked the Draconian for protecting his dreams and realised he was famished.

He felt so relaxed, and more importantly, powerful once more. The toll of all his magic's utilisation finally gone. He saw clean clothes at the end of his bed. Similar white pants and cream-coloured shirts. He'd have to tell Noctis a thing or two about obsessive monotony.

He showered quickly and practically ran to the dining room. Only Noctis was there. 'Good morning.' He said with a grin. He motioned to a chair next to him. 'Please, sit.' Aundrey sighed and went to sit by the King. 'I can't possibly thank you enough for fixing Ignis's eyes.'

'Your gratitude grows but your beard remains,' Aundrey said as he grabbed some bread and spread a purple looking jam over it. 'Your interpretation of the word is odd.'

Noctis closed his eyes and exhaled a shuddering breath. 'Can you for at least a whole of five minutes stop trying to piss me off?'

'Okay,' Aundrey said dully. 'You have five minutes.'

'You brought me back. You gave my friend something nobody else could. You helped us out yesterday, despite being exhausted. Why?' Noctis asked sincerely.

Aundrey shrugged. 'Why does anyone do anything, Noctis? Why did you willingly sacrifice yourself?' Aundrey picked up a glass – a wine bottle levitating to fill the glass. 'I don't believe it was because it was your _duty_. I don't believe in duty. Roles are assigned to us when we are born but we are bound by nobody to obey them.

'If you wanted to, you could have run away and let the world rot. If I wanted to, I could have never come. My power was no longer bound to you the moment you sacrificed yourself. Gladio didn't have to be your Crownsguard, Ignis didn't have to give up his eyesight for you and Prompto didn't have to be your friend.

'Why do people do anything? Because our hearts command us so.' He gulped down the glass in three mouthfuls. 'And why do our hearts command us so? Well, that's beyond my knowledge. Or that of the Gods, for that matter. Our hearts and our souls – just how connected are they? Where does anything come from. Questions humanity has asked for millennia yet has failed to ever answer. The reality is, Noctis,' Aundrey stared into the King's eyes intently, freezing him. 'I resurrected you simply because I wanted to.'

Noctis narrowed his eyes. 'Why did you want to?'

'To test my strength.' Aundrey said, drinking down another glassful of wine that he had just filled.

'I don't believe that.' Noctis said. 'And you've had enough to drink.' He grabbed the glass from Aundrey's hands.

'I'll have had enough when I'm puking on your floor.' Aundrey said angrily, grabbing the glass back.

'What are the limits of your power?' Noctis asked.

Aundrey finished another glassful of wine. He was starting to feel dizzy. 'I have no idea. I don't think anyone does.'

At that moment, Noctis's Crownsguard walked inside. Gladio looked from Noctis to Aundrey intently. 'Drinking so early?' He asked, taking a seat near Aundrey.

'Sure am,' Aundrey replied. He turned to look at Ignis. 'How are you enjoying your new light?'

'Extraordinarily so.' Ignis replied, his voice still full of admiration. 'I am forever indebted to you.'

'No you aren't.' Aundrey said lazily, playing with his glass that had a bit of wine left inside. 'I didn't restore something that you lost, I only restored something that you gave willingly. So the one indebted to me is Noctis. But he already is that, so I don't see how it matters.'

'I suppose I am.' Noctis said, refusing to look at anyone but the table.

'Then you should shave.' Aundrey said dully.

Noctis slammed his fist on the table. 'I will _not_.'

'You really should Noct, it looks terrible.' Ignis remarked. 'Almost makes me regret being able to see again.'

Gladius laughed so hard he fell out of his chair. 'You look like a freaking wannabe man.' Gladio said, climbing back into his seat.

'I _am_ a man,' Noctis insisted angrily. He glared at Aundrey. 'This is all your fault.'

'It quite is,' Aundrey remarked, still looking at the glass he was playing with. 'Your friends can only make fun of you because I brought you back to life and Ignis can only point out the hideousness of your facial hair because I restored his eyesight.'

Noctis blushed. Okay, so Aundrey admitted to himself that it was an extremely low blow, but he didn't really care. 'How can you do any of this?' Prompto asked. 'Lady Lunafreya never had such powers.'

Aundrey looked up from his glass and glared. 'The _next_ person to compare me to Lunafreya is going to lose his eyesight _permanently._ We are two different oracles, two different incomparable entities. That's the end of it.' He looked around. 'I've been bombed with enough questions. Now it's my turn. Gladio, aren't you to marry?'

'Yeah.' Gladius answered. 'How do you know?'

'I've been keeping tabs on all of you. Prompto, do you feel any different?'

Prompto looked dumbstruck. 'Different why?'

'Your daemon blood was vanquished. Don't you notice any difference?'

'It was?' Prompto asked dubious.

Aundrey nodded. 'I wonder, what are your powers now that it's gone. I can tell you have magic in your blood. I can sense it. So what does it do?'

Prompto shrugged. 'I never really used magic much. Never had much of it.'

'Hmph.' Aundrey looked at his plate. It levitated, twirled and flew headstrong into Prompto. He yelped and dodged.

'What are you doing?' Gladius asked, grabbing Aundrey's shoulder but he was thrown away by an invisible force.

'Aundrey!' Noctis said, getting up but was met with the same result, although his fall was considerably gentler. Ignis seemed to be rooted in his chair.

'Our survival instincts are directly linked to our magic. I'm curious to see how Prompto's will manifest, considering how he's a very rare creature.' The rest of kitchenry flew from the table and was thrown at Prompto who dodged it by rolling to the right.

'Hey man stop! I have no magic.' Prompto yelled.

'Not convincing.' Aundrey noted bored. Chairs started flying and one by one they threw themselves at Prompto, who dodged, running to the end of the dining room. He bolted for the door but it seemed to be locked. Noctis and Gladius couldn't get off the floor.

'Stop!' Prompto yelled, as one of the metal knight statues disassembled, part after part being thrown at Prompto, including a sword. He ran to one of the walls and a large window crashed, its pieces raining down upon him. 'I'm telling you I have no Magic!' Prompto pulled out his guns. 'I don't want to fight you.'

'You can't.' Aundrey remarked. 'Go ahead, shoot me.' Prompto did and nothing happened. He looked at his guns with a look of utter betrayal. 'Is that how you want your life to be, Prompto? Completely powerless? _Fight_. Stop being the weakling in your team. That's how you feel, no?'

Prompto didn't answer. Above Noctis, the Royal arms materialised. 'What the hell?' Noctis asked, as one by one they flew towards Prompto. 'I'm not doing this!' He yelled.

'I am.' Aundrey replied in a bored tone. 'Boy, you really are good at dodging. But I've grown tired.' Suddenly, everything lifted into the air. The broken chairs, statue pieces, royal arms, Gladius's sword, the window shards. It all gathered behind Aundrey as a debris and then – it launched onto Prompto.

'ENOUGH.' Prompto yelled, his eyes shining green. He put his right hand up and all the debris was repelled by a blue faint light – like a huge ethereal shield. The debris of broken objects dropped on the floor.

'How interesting. ' Aundrey said and smiled. 'See, that wasn't very hard now, was it?' He materialised his golden-white trident and slammed it on the floor once. Golden light appeared and twirled around the room, returning everything in its place, the window reforming, the knight reassembling himself, the royal arms disappearing, the chairs repairing as Noctis and Gladius were picked up by the light and seated in their previous places.

Everyone looked stunned. 'How the hell did you do that?' Gladius asked.

'I just did it. I told you, no one's really sure what I can or can't do.' Aundrey said bored. 'I'm hungry.'

'Yesterday you looked like you might faint.' Ignis said.

Prompto still was speechless. Aundrey shrugged. 'A good night's sleep does wonders.'

Noctis got up from his chair and started furiously screaming. 'Why are you all acting like he didn't just try to kill our friend? He pinned us all down with visibly no effort. You almost _killed_ him.' He yelled at Aundrey.

'Don't be ridiculous. As you said, I pinned you all down with no effort. If I wanted Prompto dead, I'd just bust his lungs with a simple thought. It was a test and he passed it. He's grateful, as is Gladio. Which is why he isn't being a pain about it with his broadsword.' Aundrey looked at Noctis who was still glaring daggers. 'Bring me some food.'

'I'M NOT YOUR MAID.' Noctis screamed, hitting his plate with enough force to send it smashing against the wall. He glared at Aundrey for a few more seconds before leaving the dining room, slamming the large wooden doors behind him.

'You really know how to get him angry.' Was all Prompto said. 'And thanks. I guess.'

'You're welcome. And yeah, I do.' Aundrey ran his hands over his face. 'I think I'm slightly drunk. Still hungry, too.' He sighed. 'If anyone here feels enough gratitude, please do send anything delicious to my room soon. I'll go have a cold shower.'

Gladius smirked. 'What if we send Noctis?'

Aundrey glared at him, his cheeks blazing. 'Wait – what?' Prompto asked oblivious. He looked intently at Aundrey. 'Oooh. Yeah, that totally makes sense. You're that young kid who always stared at Noctis, aren't you?'

Aundrey snorted. 'So are you.'

Prompto grinned. 'I wasn't the young kid though. Plus, I don't have a crush on him. I just wanted a friend.'

'I don't have a crush on him,' Aundrey said decidedly, getting up. 'I just felt like I deserved to be his Oracle more than Lunafreya.'

'Who are you kidding.' Gladio said with a bored tone. 'You're in love with him. Who knows for how long you have been.'

Aundrey laughed sourly. ' _Love_.' He turned around and exited the dining room.

* * *

Alright, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Please leave a comment/review to let me know what you think and follow it for more!


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